The Best Cookies in the World

Okay, really, the best cookies in the world were made by Grandma.  A close second were the ones made by Joan, one of her caretakers.  But, considering that this is the first time I've ever made them, I did pretty okay!

Mr. Red (that's the new name for the KitchenAid) was a breeze at mixing all the good stuff together.  It's almost as if he's done this before (which I'm pretty sure there's been a batch or two made in him).

It all starts with creaming the butter, sugar (granulated and brown) and the teaspoon of vanilla.

Sugary goodness!

Then you start adding the flour, salt and baking soda a bit at a time.  While it's tempting to just dump it in all at once, you really need to take the time to do a bit at a time (plus, you get to do sampling to make sure you get the right consistency!).  Once the batter is just right, you add the chopped walnuts.

Now, I'm not a fan of nuts in my baked goods as a general rule.  But, Grandma was a sneaky one, a wily woman who knew how to get us grandkids to eat what she wanted us to eat.  After the walnuts, you add the special ingredient.  Now, anyone can just make chocolate chip cookies, but only Grandma made cookies with M&Ms!  And, you can't use any generic "chocolate bits"; it most definitely has to be M&Ms.

Sugary goodness with M&Ms.

Then using a handy tablespoon, you dollop the dough (after eating the dough off the beater) onto the cookie sheets and away you go.

Once you get the cookies in the oven, one of the most crucial steps the baking time.  The timing has to be just perfect.  You can't under cook them (because that's just gross) but you also can't overcook them.  Thirty seconds too long in the over will simply turn the cookies a shade too brown, and make them crispy.  The goal is to get that perfect level of "just cooked enough" similar to Chewy Chips Ahoy (but OOOOHHHH so much better).  Normally, you would know when they're done because you'd just start to smell baked cookies.  However, my oven is apparently a nice quality one that doesn't leak...which means it's harder to smell the deliciousness of baked cookie at the right moment.

And, once you have the cookies all baked (recipe makes about 3 dozen, depending on cookie size), you get to enjoy what's left in the bowl before clean-up.  And to truly finish the best cookies in the world, you bag 'em up and stick 'em in the freezer!

Awesomeness in a bag!

Battle of the Honey Cookies Part 2

The long awaited finale to the Honey Cookie Battle is upon us!

I wasn't sure how this recipe would turn out.  I mean, the first honey cookie was pretty sweet, and I wasn't a fan of the batter.  If 1 cup of honey was too sweet for me, wouldn't I just go into a diabetic shock with an entire PINT of honey, and a freakin' POUND of powdered sugar?!  Seriously, I used this entire jar:

Thank you bees!

And this entire box of powdered sugar:

Yes, that's an entire pound
of sugary sweetness.

And I discovered that while the eggs were no match for the hand mixer (still my favorite mixer attachment) and honey...

The flour mixture with cloves, cinnamon, allspice and other dry ingredients almost caused the poor trooper to burn its motor out!

Mmm, cinnamon!

Cookie dough anyone?

There was a slight internal panic that my bowl wouldn't be large enough for all of the batter, but I just barely made it.

I must admit, this was much better batter than the first honey cookie recipe; the cooking judge was almost swayed to vote for the contender on this fact alone.

I admit, I'm a messing baker!

(Baker's lesson:  Don't attempt to take the beaters out while the mixer is still plugged in.  Pushing in the "on" button sometimes makes it actually turn on!)

And, then, the first batch came out!  Yummy!  These were much more "cookie" like than the first recipe.  Just maybe I could learn to love honey cookies.

Don't forget the nuts!

That's AFTER 48 cookies!

And then, I had to keep on baking...

Four dozen (that's 48 for you numerical people) cookies later, and I was still putting more dough on the cookie sheet.  To help speed the process along, I employed the use of my toaster over (yes, it toasts and it bakes!).

The ringer...

So hopefully, the cookies go over well.  And since I have so many cookies out of this one recipe, I get to share the wealth with my friends, and not just co-workers!

The Battle of the Honey Cookies

Grab your napkins!  Grab your milk!  Now sit down and get ready to be...COOKIED!!!  Okay, so the deep stadium announcer voice doesn't quite translate into cookies.  Maybe if it was read with an Iron Chef announcer voice?

Either way, I'm holding a battle of the Honey Cookies.  A quick dash to the store to get said honey (side note: there are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, in case you ever need to know) I started round one of the Honey Cookie Battle (HCB).  And now for Cookie Number 1:

1. Use a lot of honey.

That's 8 fluid ounces (1 cup)
of pure, raw honey.

2.  Mix in butter and eggs...

Fail:  Mixing by hand 

3.  Become smarter about mixing...

For the Win:  Hand mixer!

(Baker's note:  Not the best batter in the world.  Or maybe it is if you like honey.

I started to have serious doubts about honey cookies at this point.)

4.  Figuring out when to add that "7 cups of flour more or less"

Rolling out the dough...

Fail.

Adding more flour....

Success!

It just feels odd using a dog bone cookie cutter for human cookies.  So I went with the trusty circle (a la wine glass).

(Baker's note:  Still not a fan of the batter, even with the additional flour.

Still having some doubts about the viability of the cookies).

And with a quick 15 minutes later..

The first batch!

For the office...

(Baker's note:  I discovered at the office that these go really well with my morning coffee!

Cookies have redeemed themselves.)

Stay tuned next week for the Honey Cookie Challenger!